Quality Time
Characters *Andy Jackson *Monique Anderson *Alex Depp *Josh Antonio Moro *Percy Jackson *Annabeth Chase Chapter One: World's Worst Wake-Up I was peeved. Incredibly irritated. Amazingly annoyed. Exceptionally exasperated. Understandably upset. Ridiculously riled. You would expect I'd get someslack. I'd just been blown of a god damn cliff and I was flung into a dream. A dream! Morpheus, you are sooooooo going to Tartarus. I was standing on a beach. It was night, the stars twinkling against the black back-drop, a full moon illuminating the long stretch of pristine white sand. The calm water flowed in and out again, a comforting rhythm that seemed to be the only thing staying the same within the last few weeks. An outcrop of large, grey rocks stopped the sand from progressing any further and then turned into tall cliffs, strange looking trees dotted on their tops. I wasn't injured, my shoulder was intact, and I didn't have any pain whatsoever. It was amazing. I was instantly suspicious. Nothing in my life was 'simple' or 'peaceful'. "To true," a voice said and I spun around, facing the speaker sitting on the sand, letting the cool water touch her toes. Her rusty-brown hair was neatly combed and in a French braid that was tied with a green bow. Her kind eyes were crinkled in a smile that was so full of warmth and happiness that it seemed impossible that anything bad had happened. "Lady Rhea," I nodded in respect. Rhea smiled, "Come, sit," she petted the sand next to her and I joined her by the water side. The tide flowed in and I touched the water. It didn't feel right, it felt… sticky, almost like artificial water made out of melted plastic. Rhea signed, "Yes, that's the thing about this beach. It is all artificial, both you will not be able to find a prettier sight down here." I knit my eyebrows, "'Down here'?" Rhea smiled sadly, "Yes, down here in the Underworld." I jumped up, "I'm not dead, am I?" Rhea realised her mistake and smiled reassuringly, "No, you are not. That was silly of me and I apologise. You are in the Dreamworld, a much nicer part of Tartarus." "Uh-huh," I nodded, sitting back down. She was right about this 'beach' being pretty. It was so calm and peaceful, an incredible change from the past days. "Lady Rhea? What am I doing here?" Rhea gazed up at the stars, "I thought you needed a rest from the past week. You were hurt from your fight on Mount Etna," she looked back at me, "and I need to speak with you about you father." I stiffened. Rhea sensed my discomfort, but continued anyway. "You seem to dislike him," she stated, looking for my reaction. I just looked out over the 'water', scowling slightly. "Why? Even at the mention of Perseus you— well— you do what you are doing now. But my question is why?" I tore my steely gaze from the 'water' and to Rhea, "He hurt her, Rhea. That's not forgivable." Rhea nodded in understanding, "I understand, Andy. But there is another thing that I am confused about. If you hate your father so much, then way do you take his name?" "What?" "His name, you take his last name. Jackson. Correct me if I am wrong, but once you found out about all of this—" she gestured around, "—you changed from Chase to''Jackson''. And when you fought Triton, you were insulted when he called you Chase." "I—I—" Rhea smiled, having proved her point, "You have acknowledged him as your father." "Yeah, but—" "You risked your life and that of your friends to save him." "Yeah, but—" "And you set out on the quest for recognition from him." "I did not—!" Rhea put her hand on my shoulder, "Andy, face it. You don't hate him and you know it." "But—" "Andromeda!" Rheas raise her voice. "You don't and you know it. Don't be stubborn." I crossed my arms, "He. Hurt. Annabeth." Rhea sighed and smiled at the same time, "Sometimes your stubbornness is impossible. Just remember, my child, give Percy a chance. He is new at parenthood; you cannot blame him for being…" "Oblivious, annoying, stupid, heroic, a bad parent?" I offered. Rhea looked pointedly at me and stood up, "Yes, whatever you wish to believe. But trust him. Oh, and happy 13th birthday, Andromeda. Now—" Wake. My eyes flew open. All I saw was a blue blur, just a smudge across my vision. I groaned, my joints stiff and numb, most likely from huge doses of pain killers. I was lying on a bed of some sort, the room eerily silent. My vision became to improve and I could make out the vaguely humanoid shapes of people standing around me. Well, at least I know I'm not surrounded by three-legged, one-armed, twenty-headed Science teachers. Or hundred-armed, fifty-faced gigantic monsters bent on revenge holding my parents on the top of a volcano. Actually, I'd be more scared of the Science teacher… "Andy? Andy!" Someone yelled, but I couldn't see them. "Apollo! She's awake; get your godly a** in here!" There was a yelp, a CLANG — SMASH! ''and footsteps, as what sounded like a stampeding herd of elephants ran towards…well, wherever I was. Finally, I blinked a few times, my sight coming back to me. I opened my eyes and instantly snapped them shut again, protesting against the bright light. I blinked a few times more, my eyes adjusting to the light and I was able to make out the people who were standing in the room. By the door, half-hidden in shadows, was Poseidon; Annabeth sitting right beside me, her cuts and bruises healed, but she had her left arm in a sling. Then there were the two people who had just ran into the room. One was ''— ahem — rather hot and the other was Perseus. 'Nuff said. Apollo (at least, I thought it was Apollo, y' never know with these god-types) came over to me and Annabeth moved so he could check my injuries. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I'm in a WHOLE LOTTA PAIN AT THE MOMENT! No? Okay then. He smiled, "You're in a mess; you know that, right?" I groaned. My ears were pounding, a high ringing echoing off every noise and I had a blistering headache, so Apollo's voice sounded like he had just yelled through the world's largest megaphone plugged into AC/DC concert amplifiers, turned up to 1,000,000,000,000% right next to my ear. I glared at him testily, my voice dripping with sarcasm, "No, I'm perfectly fine." "You only fell of a mountain, fell thousands of feet and sank to the bottom of the Mediterranean." "Oh is that all." Annabeth hit me on the shoulder, "Andy," she reprimed. "Don't be sarcastic." "Hypocrite," Percy muttered, only for Annabeth to turn a death glare worthy of Thalia at him. "Don't get me started on you, Seaweed Brain." Percy—''Perseus'' held his hands up in a 'surrender' gesture as Poseidon walked back in, surprising Percy because he didn't noticed him leave. And they say I'm oblivious. "Annabeth?" Poseidon said. "Athena needs to see you." Annabeth looked at the sea god, "Tell mum she can wait." Poseidon raised an eyebrow, "Have you met Athena?" "Coming, coming," Annabeth sighed as she got up. She turned and squeezed my hand. "Don't mortally wound yourself while I'm gone." I smiled weakly, "I'll be sure to try." Annabeth rolled her eyes before walking out of the door, Poseidon leading her to where her mother was waiting. … "Ow…ow…ow—OW, SH*T!" I yelled as Apollo poked one of my ribs. He nodded and muttered something. "Argh! You're worse than Josh!" I protested as he continued to be all 'God-of-Medicine'. He looked up, "How is Josh? How'd he go on your quest?" I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, "Oh, y'know, he didn't die." Apollo smirked while writing something on a medical sheet, "That's generally a good thing," he looked up from the sheet of paper. "Would you like to know how much damage you did to yourself?" "No." "Okay then!" Apollo smiled at my scowl. Honestly, he was like acted like he was two… no offense to two-year-olds. "Well, you broke four ribs, three on the right, and one on the left—" Ouch. "You ruptured an artery in your shoulder, so you lost quite a lot of blood, but being the awesome god I am I fixed it up—" he continued before I could make a sarcastic retort. "—you'll have a scar, but on the bright side you could make up some sickage story to tell at school." "Anything else?" I asked rhetorically, but I should have known Apollo would have answered it. "Yeah, fractured ankle and wrist, multiple scrapes, grazes and bruises, broken arm, dislocated knee and shoulder, broken nose and a small head wound." "But I survived, right?" "Duh. I think this deserves a haiku! The one called Andy—" "Okay, Apollo. She's already suffered enough." Percy said, as he walked into the infirmary. Apollo huffed, a smile still stretched across his face. Then the coolest thing happened. Apollo's phone rang. Underwater. I find that really cool. Apollo answered, "Ye-llo? Uh-huh…okay…yeah, sure thing…I'll be over soon, don't touch anything…no, not even the floor…okay, see ya, bye." He hung up the phone and turned to us. "I have to go, hunters in distress." I snorted, and then turned in surprise; Percy had snorted at the exact same time as me. Percy didn't notice this (again, people called me oblivious) and sat down on a chair close to my bed as Apollo burst into a flash of gold light (I averted my eyes, after being healed, I didn't want to die) and there was a silence. An awkward silence. An incredibly awkward silence. I hadn't moved from this bed in ages, and in consequence I kept fidgeting and moving due to the useful ''ADHD. I tried not to take notice of Percy doing the same thing— I mean we both had ADHD; it didn't mean we acted the same…did it? Finally, after what seemed like eons, Percy turned and asked me the question he had obviously been dying to ask since he sat down. "Andro—" I glared at him. "Andy," he amended. "Why—why…why do you hate me so much?" I glared at him long and hard before answering, "You hurt her, ''Perseus. That is like…like a—crime. And I'm telling you, if you as much as make her even slightly upset, I will kill''you. Capeesh?" Chapter Two: I Fight a Seaweed Brain Although I'd never say it to his face, Apollo was good at healing. By the third or fourth day I was awake, I couldn't feel any pain at all and most of my injuries had been healed. I now had a massive scar on my shoulder, but it looked pretty cool, so I wasn't fazed. Annabeth's arm was out of its sling, and she had left a few hours ago to check up with everything back home, what with her missing a month of work with bills to pay and phone calls to follow up. It had taken her some convincing from me, mostly "I'll be fine"s; stuff that worried mother's tend to drink up. Okay, now don't judge, but you wouldn't believe how long it took me to realise I was in Atlantis. Okay you can judge. I just wasn't concentrating on the environment, or the fish, or the actual ''water. Hey, I've been called oblivious for a reason. But Atlantis was truly beautiful. A huge (and by 'huge' I don't mean pretty big, I mean as in three times Central Park) courtyard dominated the centre of the palace; fourteen or fifteen stories above it, seemingly floating in mid-air (or is that mid-water?), the main War Prep rooms and meeting chambers, providing a great view and a strategic position if the palace was ever to come under siege. The courtyard itself was decorated with thousands of colourful coral providing a spectrum of colours, glowing in the dark, and some even growing big, golden plates that looked a lot like drachmas (although mum warned me not to touch them, the drachmas were fakes that the coral used to attract its prey. Needless to say, I thought that was pretty neat.) The paths were made of smooth, deep-sea limestone, lined with glowing pearls that changed colour depending on Poseidon's mood, kinda like the camp fire back at Camp Half-Blood. The architecture itself was amazing. I could tell it was roughly based on Antonio Gaudí's Casa Milá (believe me, you know that kinda stuff when you live with Annabeth Chase,) what with the curved walls, and façades. The walls were made out of a thick but smooth to the touch type of blue sandstone, different types of luminescent coral and fungi growing off the rock. Floating pearls lit the halls, and thousands of different species of sea-creatures swam in and out of multiple doorways and holes in the stone. But what interested me the most (because, as I said above, living with Annabeth Chase, you kinda get a very good education in architecture) were the animals themselves. Aside from being stranger than an average Maths teacher, I couldn't get passed the face of how much respect I got here. I mean, I was used to being picked on at school and always dubbed a loser, but here I had people (fish, whatever) part in my way, bow, address me as 'milady' or 'ma'am'. It was cool but it got very annoying. Very quickly. But Atlantis was huge. Huge-moungus! Figures I got lost. So I was out wondering the halls—stupid idea, I know—when I came across the plain and simple fact: I was hopelessly lost. Not just lost, oh no, hopelessly lost. I turned random corners (yeah, yeah, I should of back-tracked, I know); it was just so hard to navigate, every corridor looked the same. Screw hydrokenisis, I needed echolocation at the moment! I exited a large hall and then entered into an even larger one, this time with twenty-or-so archways, which all probably led to more doorways and paths. I turned into a left one (ADHD, cut me some slack) and started to panic, I swore I'd just walked through a hall like this one. I began to quicken my pace, my converse—which, I tell you, had seen much better days—hitting the floor harder and harder until I was running. I rounded a corner and—''BAM! SMASH! "OW!"'' I ran into someone, and was thrown to the floor as we collided. Groaning, I started to get back up again, probably to apologise like an idiot, but a hand appeared in front of me. I took it and allowed the knockee (yes, that's a word … in Andy Language. It's a very diverse language, not many though) to pull me up. I looked up to smile thankfully… …at the face of Percy Jackson. I promptly released his hand and fell back to the floor. I ignored his snickers — being on a quest with Josh and Alex required that — and pulled myself up, ignoring the still outstretched hand. I stood, facing him. Admittedly, the only hostility was from me, but hey, I'm stubborn, get used to it. "Hey, Andy," he smiled warmly; trying for un-hostile conversation (either that, or he forgot I hated him. Knowing Percy, I'd say the latter.) "Percy…" I said warily. "What're you doing out here?" he asked, looking around to see if anyone was with me. When he saw none, he turned back to me. "I could ask you the same thing." I said cryptically, not ready to tell him that I was (completely, utterly and hopelessly) lost. He cocked an eyebrow, "You have no idea where the hades you are, do you?" I sighed in defeat, "Not a clue." Percy laughed at my expense and I crossed my arms. "Would you tell me where I am, then?" Percy shook his head, smiling, "I'll save your dignity from the pain. But I'll be nice—" I thought it was rude to snort. I snorted. "—and show you the way back." He smiled and gestured for me to follow him. He walked past me and out through the archway I'd just ran through. He walked forward, continuing through the archway in front of us (which have been to my right when I turned left last time.) He took a right turn, and a left, then a right, right, left, into a kind of circular hallway, right, left, left, right, courtyard. Yeah, there was no way I was gonna find my way back on my own. I recognised the archways here, partly because they were all different shapes and colours and were coolioz (look it up in the Andy dictionary) and partly because I'd spent''way'' to long here listening to Apollo's haiku's/listening to Ke$ha on my iPod. Percy turned and smiled at me, gesturing to the three-times-bigger-than-Central-Park-courtyard, "And here you are then. Where were you going in the first place?" he asked. "Are you meant to be walking 'round with your injuries." Suddenly, I became very self-conscious of the long white gash on my shoulder and shrugged on my jacket, "I'm perfectly fine, thank-you very much. Apollo said that I'm fine with physical activity, I should try and train to re-gain strength in my arm blah, blah, blah." At the word 'train' Percy's face lit up like a kid's on Christmas, "Sweet! You can train with me then, I was just going to now anyway!" "Are you sure that's such a great ideAHHHH!" I ended up screaming, as Percy grabbed my wrist and the water constricted on us. Twisting, turning, pressing against our bodies until we landed outside the training area…well, he landed on his feet, I gracefully found myself on my butt (again). "Don't do that!" I protested, standing up, still ignoring the outstretched hand. "Sorry, I didn't realise," he smirked, attempting to be serious. "Yes you bloody well did," I muttered, as I stalked off after Perseus. … Training area: huge. Armoury: humongous. Sparring ring: ginormous. Percy's ego: bigger than all of them put together. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a teensy ''bit, but the training 'area' was actually stupendously over-sized. Filled with merpeople, who I guessed were palace guards from the insignia on their chests, training and talking among each other. Cyclops passed occasionally; carrying an array of very sharp and dangerous looking weapons, that I was sure Annabeth would never let me touch. I swear a pair of Swordfish was fighting to our left, but I didn't have time to ponder as I tried to navigate the field without losing a limb. I got some strange looks from passing combatants, like Why is the Prince of the Sea leading a twelve year old through the training ring?' ''Well do you know what I have to say to that? I'm thirteen, not twelve! But we made it, partly because of my awesome ninja skills, and partly because everyone parted for Percy. But my ninja moves totally helped. Then I realised who Percy was now talking to. "Carthlo!" I exclaimed before my brain processed that my mouth was open. Carthlo turned and smiled, "Hello, Andy." "You remember her then, Carthlo?" Percy asked, smiling. "Of course I do," he smiled. "I've never met anyone with a sharper tongue." I guess he was referring to the incident with the Lion/Biology teacher hybrid called a Manticore, and — oops, my fault. "—I hope you had a fun time getting lost." Carthlo smirked, looking at Percy, but clearly meaning me. I glared at him and smacked Percy on the back of his head. "Ow! What was that for?" "Being an idiot." "Aw, thanks." "You're welcome." "Well—" "I'd hate to interrupt this father/daughter bonding time," Carthlo said loudly. "But I have to go. Percy, don't beat up your daughter, she's still healing." "Hey! He can't—" "Don't be so sure, Andy," Carthlo laughed as he strode off, back up to a gate on the far western side. I stood grumbling as Percy laughed. "D'you need a sword?" he asked. I shook my head, "Got one." "Armour?" "Unnecessary weight." Percy rolled his eyes and drew his sword, Riptide, from its sheath hanging on his belt. Weird, Grover had told me it was a pen … oh; it doesn't really matter, as long as I don't get stabbed with it (now that would totally suck.) I smiled back, and touched the ruby. Thalassa formed in my hand, and I winced at how bad it looked. Percy laughed, "Hephaestus would have a fit if he saw what you've done to his sword." "I think I'm about to have a fit about what I've done to his sword." I said, rubbing dirt off of the hilt. "It'll do." I took my position facing Percy. I put on a poker face (even though I sucked at the game and outright refused to play it) pretending that I wasn't about to get my butt seriously kicked. He lunged. I admit it was a smart move, putting me immediately on the defensive, but I jumped to the side and swiped, not expecting the blow to actually do anything, but as more of a distraction. But Percy sliced back, aiming for my right arm. I blocked and retaliated with a left-right-left feint, which he caught and rolled my blade off of Riptide's hilt, to which I sliced upwards towards his wrist. The blow would have left a serious mark, but Thalassa simply glanced off his skin. "Dude!" I complained. "That's totally not fair, man." Percy shrugged, "You're the one who wanted to train." I was about to say, 'well, actually you did', but Percy when for an uppercut, so I had to block and parry, not wanting to be sliced into Andy + Dip. Again. He clashed with Thalassa twice, front left, strike right, as I swung quickly to block both of them. So far I wasn't horribly maimed, so I wasn't doing too badly. But I could tell Percy wasn't exactly trying to horrible maim me, he'd have to hide very well from Annabeth's wrath. I parried another quick series of jabs, and my blade hit the base of Percy's and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust. Clang. Riptide rattled against the stones of the training arena. The tip of my blade was a couple of centimetres from Percy's undefended chest. "This is difficult," Percy remembered Luke saying; "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique." Percy was silent for a moment, looking between Riptide and Thalassa, and then turned to me, a goofy smile on his face, "Now that was unexpected. I don't think anyone's gotten me with my own move. Who taught it to you?" I shrugged, "No one. Came…naturally, I guess." Percy smiled and picked up Riptide. He looked fondly at his sword, before sliding it back into his sheath, "C'mon," he said. "I know just the person to fix up that mess of a sword you have." I looked at him, completely confused, as he headed off for the armoury, not realising I'd just spent an hour with my father without thinking one murderous thought. Maybe my stay at Atlantis wasn't going to be so bad after all. Chapter Three: Home at Last Volcanos suck. The Atlantean armoury was built in and around a series of underwater volcanos along the East Coast that I never even knew existed. Honestly, after one experience in a volcano, I wasn't eager for another one. So Percy took Thalassa for me, and I, well, I went home. And I mean home, home; as in the sixth floor of the Archstone East 36th Building. Archstone was a rather small apartment block, with about 15-or-so floors, all with 'bout 25 separate apartments. I'd lived there forever; Annabeth had it before I was born because it was close to NYU for her to take her courses. The building itself was a sturdy redbrick, with rickety metal stairwells on the outside of the building, most with small deckchairs and pot plants set up. The lobby was nothing special, just a fairly large room with the coolest antique chandelier, two gleaming lifts and the grumpiest doorman. The weirdo from next door, Mr Nelson, grunted as I walked past him by the elevator, either in annoyance or greeting I wasn't sure, but I smiled back. I detoured up the stairs, going up each step as slowly as physically possible with ADHD. But way to soon I'd reached the apartment door. I knocked and the door was flung open and I was engulfed in a hug— — from Alex? "Alex!" I exclaimed, as the absolutely beaming boy pulled away. His smiled threatened to tear apart his face and his cheeks were beetroot red. Only then did I realise I was blushing too. "Hey, Andy," Alex said with barely contained joy. "How're you?" I snorted, so Alex. I stepped into the apartment; everything was exactly as we'd left it last month. The same water lilies that never seemed to wilt, embarrassing baby pictures, and the usual layer of thin dust from when mum can never be bothered dusting. Speaking of the devil, Annabeth walked out of the kitchen, her face absolutely glowing. Immediately, I was engulfed in another massive, bone-breaking hug, to which mum was the cause of. "How was Atlantis, honey?" Annabeth asked, releasing me. "Did Percy do anything stupid? I bet he did, or say something." "Well, he did say quite a few words, mother." I smirked and Annabeth hit me on the back of the head. "Anyway, what're you doing here, Alex?" Alex smiled, "Chiron asked me to talk to Annabeth about coming to help with Tactic Training at camp." We all sat down, "Wouldn't Monique and Malcolm be cheated out of head-honchos? And wouldn't Monique come for that?" "Nique's tied up, the Ares and Athena cabins are having their own mini-war at the moment." "That's horrible!" "Yeah," Alex grimaced. "Originally it was bad, but now it's just really annoying. At least Capture the Flag's interesting." "Well," Annabeth said. "More than usual." Alex smiled and nodded in agreement, when an alarm started beeping from his phone. "I'd better be going," Alex said, standing up and grabbing his bag. "Mum will kill me if I'm late again." "Tell her I said 'hi'!" I called after him. I heard a muffled "sure!" as the door closed. I stood up, "Now, after a month of camping, sailing, fighting and general attempts to stay alive, I seriously need a shower. Expect me out in three days." Annabeth laughed, "Don't use all of the hot water, you need'a do the dishes tonight." "Oh, what!" I complained. "That's so unfair." "So is life, get over it," Annabeth smirked as I headed up towards my room. Seriously, I needed a shower and sleep in my own bed. Oh gods that sounds so good at the moment. The there was a knock at the door. I turned and walked to the door; a little miffed at having to postpone the shower/sleep, and opened it. "Alex, if you forgot your—oh." I blushed when I realised it wasn't Alex at the door. "Hey, Andy," Percy smiled. "Can I—uh…come in?" I nodded mutely and stepped back for him to enter. I closed the door behind him and walked behind him to the kitchen. "Andy!" Annabeth called. "Who's at the—oh," she turned and saw Percy standing in the doorway awkwardly, shuffling from foot-to-foot as he bore Annabeth's famous glare. "Hello, Percy." "Hi, Annabeth," Percy attempted a smile, but was cut off by Annabeth's Glare (which, in itself, deserves a capital letter.) "What do you want, Percy?" Annabeth said testily. I looked between the both of them like a tennis match, waiting to see which one would say what first. Finally, I held up my hands. "You love-birds can eye-fight for as long as you want, but I'm having a well-deserved shower," I said as I exited the kitchen. "Oh, no you're not," Percy stopped me, smiling. "Special request from Zeus." "What? That I can't have a shower. Well, that's just too bad—" "Are you serious?" Annabeth asked, cutting me off, turning to Percy. "Zeus wants her up there now? I thought he'd already spoken to Monique and the other two." I smirked at the boys being reduced to the 'other two'. "Apparently he wants a more reliable source," Percy shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Why's want me, then?" I asked, smirking. Percy looked at me blankly for a second, while Annabeth struggled to keep a straight face. She was doing a better job than me, when Percy smiled, "Ha, ha, very funny. Come on." I rolled my eyes, "Now he gets it." I picked up my back and grabbed my jacket. "Well, apparently I'm going again, mum. See ya later." "See you," Annabeth said as we walked out, Percy first and I closed the door behind me. We almost ran down the steps and out onto the street, where Percy hailed a taxi. "Huh," he smiled proudly. "My taxi-hailing skills are still as good as ever." I rolled my eyes (again) as we slid into the taxi. As the car began to drive through the streets of Manhattan I began to fidget in my seat, bitting my lip anxiously. "Andy," Percy smirked. "Chill, we're just going to Olympus." I looked at him incredulously, "You're telling me to 'chill'? What were you like when you first went to Olympus?" The thrones were empty except for two at the end. He didn't have to be told who the two gods were that were sitting there, waiting for him to approach. He came towards them, his legs trembling. Percy smiled, "I was fine, marched in there and said my part, y'know." I snorted, "Ya-huh, and what will Annabeth tell me?" Percy opened his mouth to retort, but he seemed to stop and think about the question, then he closed his mouth again as the taxi began to slow outside the Empire State Building. We stepped out into the bitter wind of…summer? Percy seemed to notice the wind too. He looked up at the top of the Empire State Building, "Urgh," he groaned. "What's he on about now?" A huge gust of wind tore through my jacket. Percy rolled his eyes — the clouds darkened and thunder clapped — as he made his way towards the double doors. I'd been to the Empire State Building a few times, on school trip and all, but Annabeth tried to detour any activities close to it, and for reasons I now understood. We passed a doorman sitting behind a yellow marble desk, to which Percy nodded curtly before passing. I felt the old man's eyes follow us to the elevators and when the platinum doors closed, I asked, "Who was that." Percy slid a card into a slot and pressed at red button that appeared on the console a second later, "No idea. All I know is that he's the door man who gets really annoyed if you don't have an audience up here and loves fantasy books — oh, WHAT!" I jumped, "What?" "Seriously, Zeus, Rebecca Black? Apollo said 'modern', not 'ear-wrenching'." I rolled my eyes. He was complaining about the bloody music. Figures. It's Friday! Friday! Gotta get down on Friday! "No it's not, it's Thursday." I laughed. Percy smiled as the doors opened—what the…? I stepped out of the elevator, out onto a narrow stone walkway…''in the middle of the air''. Ignoring the slight vertigo I looked over the scene before me. Below me was Manhattan from the height of an aeroplane. In front of me, white marble steps wound up the spine of a cloud, into the sky, lined with great bronze statues of the Olympians gods — and the minor ones, too. My eyes followed the stairs to the weirdest thing I'd ever seen (and that's saying something.) From the top of the clouds rose the decapitated peak of a mountain, its summit covered with snow, like Mount Etna had been. Clinging to the mountainside were dozens of multileveled-palaces — a city of mansions — all with white-columned porticos, gilded terraces and bronze braziers glowing with a thousand green flames. Roads wound crazily up the peak, where the largest palace gleamed against the snow. Precariously perched gardens bloomed with olive trees and rosebushes. I could make out and open-air market filled with colourful tents, a stone amphitheatre, a hippodrome and a coliseum built on one side of the mountain. I was here. Olympus. Chapter Four: Hi, I'm Annie Johnson My trip through Olympus was a daze. I passed a bunch of giggling wood nymphs, who threw olives at us as me and Percy—sorry, Percy and I''—from their gardens; Percy assured me that it was a greeting or pray or something, so I didn't storm up there and cut someone for getting olive oil on my ''New York Giants jumper. Hawkers in the market offered to sell me ambrosia-on-a-stick, a new shield, and a genuine glitter-weave replica of the Golden Fleece ("You can tell that it's fake," Percy muttered. "I've seen the real thing, and it looks nothing like that.") The nine muses (I tried to name them all…yeah, didn't happen) were tuning their instruments for a concert in the park while a small crowd gathered—satyrs and naiads and a bunch of good-looking teenagers that were probably minor gods and goddesses. Like a switch, festive atmosphere seemed to turn off as we walked past, the random chatter and occasional bursts of laughter swapped for muttering and low bows. It was unnerving to say the least, and I couldn't help but feel that Percy didn't overly enjoy it either, but he continued to forge ahead. Up to the throne room. Up. The very big mountain. The very big, steep mountain. Oh gods, and I thought Etna was hard. "Why can't the elevator go all the way up to the top of the mountain?" I huffed as we were halfway up. Percy smirked at my fatigue, being all godly he didn't get tired walking up Olympus, "Come on, it's not that far!" I looked at him incredulously, "Yes— . . . it . . . —is!" Percy smirked again as I continued complaining all the way up to the throne room. Even a good 150 or 200 metres away from the huge, gold incrusted double doors I could feel the imposing vibe. The throne room was absolutely huge, and I mean Grand Central Station huge, with Corinthian columns that reached all the way up into the clouds (the clouds above the clouds?). Everything seemed to have an inlay of gold or a rim of gold, or a picture in gold. It— —oh, my gods. My mom designed this. Everything I looked at now had a different meaning. This was all my mother’s work. Well, maybe not all, I suppose she would have invested quite a lot of the original design of Olympus into her new one, but it would be hard considering the period difference between . . . See? This is what happens when your mother’s an architect. “Andy? I think it would be best if you opened the doors, first.” Startled, I looked up and . . . I was about to walk into the almost-200 metre tall doors. Un-missable. It seemed like I’d missed them. I blushed scarlet, “Shut up,” I muttered as I pushed the doors open and stepped into the Throne Room. I don’t even know why they called it a throne room. It was absolutely giant, and after spending a week on the Princess Andromeda ''and scaling Mount Etna, I knew what ‘giant’ meant and ''this was giant. Twelve thrones were set up in a U shape, a crackling hearth positioned behind the largest seat of power. A young girl kneeled by the hearth, a jar in her hands, and another god was seated on a small (and by small, I mean not as big as the other thrones) fold out lawn chair. The twelve other gods that sat upon the thrones were silent. Before, as we were walking up the mountain, I could hear their faint conversations, but now they were deadly silent, watching Percy and I as we stepped into the sparkling gold-and-marble hall. There were fourteen sets of eyes on me, Percy standing back at the doors. Fourteen sets of godly eyes, with varying levels of hate, confusion, hate, curiosity, ecstatic excitement and even more hate. Well this can’t be good. I had no idea what to do. What do I say? What do I do? Do I bow? Curtsy? Juggle? Thankfully, Percy stepped forward and saved me. “Lord Zeus,” he said, bowing. I followed his lead and bowed, muttering the same. I wanted to punch Percy. He was smirking next to me, and I’m sure the gods wouldn’t mind if I hit him. Actually — I looked around at the gods — one or two of them wouldn’t mind hitting Percy themselves. “Perseus,” the god in front of us said — Zeus, if the massive bolt of lightning sitting next to his throne was any indication, “we’re all so glad you’re safe.” Looking around at the Olympians, I guessed only half of them agreed with that. Zeus continued, “We have already heard the report of the events—” Hera huffed. I guess she’d met Alex, then. “—but we would like your record of events.” “I was unconscious for most of the proceedings, Lord Zeus . . .” Wait, where was this going . . . ? “—I think Andy would be the best person to ask, milord.” Every eye was back to me, some never having left. It was so quiet. Well, at least we’d know if a pin dropped. Zeus narrowed his eyes at me and I withheld the shudder that rode down my spine with his gaze. “So,” he said, as if sentencing me to capital punishment, “this is the Andromeda Jackson that we have all been hearing about.” I didn’t trust myself not to say something completely stupid, so I just nodded. Zeus didn’t look like he was affected by that information, but the other gods sure did. A very pretty woman whom I guessed was Aphrodite was sitting straight, clapping tiny, silent claps as if congratulating my existence (Percy and Annabeth and—oh, oh! Okay.) Poseidon smiled, turning to his left and smiling at Hephaestus, who was eyeing Thalassa on my wrist, as if wondering how much I’d already damaged it. Apollo smirked, probably thinking . . . well, I had no idea what Apollo was thinking, and I s’pose that’s a good thing. Ares just glared at me, as if I had personally insulted his existence; (Dionysus? Yeah, Dionysus) had his left arm on the armrest, resting his head on his arm. Hermes was looking at me strangely, twisting his big stick— It is ''not a big stick!'' A female voice scorned inside my head. I jumped in surprise, but it went unnoticed by the gods. It is called a caduceus, young lady! It's a big stick, other voice, male, said lazily. No it's not, George. Yes it is, Martha. No. Yes. No Yes! No! YES! NO! YE— "George! Martha! Quiet!" Hermes said. "You're giving me a headache!" But gods can't get headaches, George hissed. Shut up, George. Instantly, the caduceus began to glow and shrink into a small cell phone. Hermes pocketed it and turned back to Zeus and Hera. See what've done, George? You've gotten us shrunk . . . again! I'm not listening! La la la la la la la la la! "You're giving me a headache now," I muttered. Percy smirked. Zeus groaned, “Ignoring the interruption.” Sorry. “Andromeda Jackson, so far into our query of this past month’s events, it has been your name that I have heard the most.” Lightning cracked outside. “So, tell me, as we seem unable—” he glowered at Percy, “—to find a name to put onto the face of Lord Perseus and Annabeth Chase’s kidnapper.” I looked at Percy. Was this dude serious? Okay, okay, so ZEUS, lord of lighting, honour, justice blah, blah, blah king of Olympus couldn’t exactly be classed as ‘dude’, but really? There were . . . one, two, three, four, five people who knew . . . why hadn’t Alex told Zeus anything? “Well, Andromeda Jackson?” Zeus emphasised each syllable. “Do you know who is responsible?” “Triton,” I announced. Mutterings broke out around the hall. “Triton was responsible, Lord Zeus.” Zeus turned to Poseidon, who — for a guy who just found out his son nearly killed his other son — didn’t look all too concerned. “Brother. Is this true?” Poseidon nodded, “Yes. And before you ask, brother, no. I do not know where he is now.” “Oh, surely, Poseidon,” Hades spoke up from his fold-out throne, “you can keep track of him? He surely wouldn’t go far into any of our domains. Zeus?” Watching the Elder Gods speaking was like watching an immortal version of tennis. Back and forth and back and forth and back and forth— “Uh-hem,” Hera coughed, “Darling?” She nodded towards Percy and me. —well, it was like a tennis match, until someone changes the game. “Yes, of course. Lord Perseus, Miss Jackson, thank you for your input on the situation. And, truly, Perseus, we are glad that you are safe.” “Thank-you, uncle,” Percy nodded and bowed again. “COUNCIL ADJOURNED!” Zeus bellowed, with a lightning clap just to make the point. The other gods, most likely already used to Zeus theatrics began disappearing (“Cover your eyes or you’ll die,” Percy told me just as Ares turned into his divine form), but I was frightened to see how many of the gods actually shrunk down to my size. Were they going to speak to us? I actually have to uphold a conversation? Without sounding like an utter moron, that is. First to reach us was Poseidon, who embraced Percy and then turned to embrace me. Wow, okay, being hugged by a god. Happens every day. Although, the last time I was this close to my grandfather I was bawling my eyes out like a two-year-old and staining his Hawaiian print shirt. R.I.P Hawaiian Shirt. I won’t miss you. “Androm—Andy,” Poseidon corrected, smiling. “I would ask ‘How are you?’ but I think that is a little inappropriate at this time.” “Smooth, Kelp Face,” a tall, black-haired woman rolled her eyes from behind Poseidon. She turned her disconcerting gaze from Poseidon to me. The first thing that I noticed were her eyes. They were the exact same shade of I-Know-A-Million-Ways-To-Kill-You grey that my mom had, and had used on me many times in the past. But, back then they were more Clean-Your-Room-Or-I’m-Taking-Away-The-Wii grey. So this was Athena. “My dear,” she smiled, her gaze softening slightly, “I must say, you look so much like your mother.” I blushed slightly, “Thank you.” “Yeah, yeah, okay, the grandparents had their moment with the grandkid, now I wanna meet my cousin.” Hermes shoved Athena out of the way (which I didn’t think would ever be a good idea from the way the goddess of wisdom was glaring at the messenger god) and stood in front of me, smiling. “Second cousin, technically,” I shrugged, smirking. Hermes returned my shrug. “Meh, who cares? Hermes, god of roads, speed, messengers, commerce, travellers, thieves and your second cousin, at your service.” “I thought you said no one cared?” “Ooh,” said Hermes, gripping my shoulder, “touché. I like this one, don’t blow her up, Dio.” A chubby man who was speaking shortly with Percy groaned, “Oh, na pari I eychi! Another Johnson? I had enough with Peter!” “Uh . . .” Percy shook his head at me, “Don’t even bother, Andy. I gave up years ago.” Dionysus frowned, “Hey, watch it, Parker. So, is this yours and Allison’s kid? Annie or something?” I sighed. Gods, it was going to be a long camp this summer. Chapter Five: Chapter Six: Chapter Seven: Chapter Eight: Category:Andy Jackson Series Category:Family Category:Friendship Category:Sequel